For over three decades, CEI has advocated health care reforms that put more power in the hands of consumers to choose their health providers, treatment protocols, and scope of insurance coverage. We have advocated reform of the Food and Drug Administration’s drug and device approval process to allow for greater flexibility and patient choice. And in 2013, CEI organized the court challenges to Obamacare’s exchange subsidies that concluded with the Supreme Court’s King v. Burwell decision.
Healthcare Issue Areas
Featured Posts
Blog
FTC’s second interim report on PBMs: Don’t hold your breath
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will consider issuing a second interim report on Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) tomorrow during its January 14 open meeting.
Blog
Congress shouldn’t rely on incomplete FTC PBM study
Lawmakers are making a last-minute push to regulate the practices of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) during the lame duck session. However, it would be a…
Wall Street Journal
A Thumb on the Scale for Wegovy
The Biden administration announced one more bit of executive overreach on its way out the door. On Nov. 26, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid…
Search Posts
National Review
Evicting the Constitution
Few government actions have been more emblematic of bureaucratic overreach than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s nationwide eviction moratorium. After multiple successful court…
New York Post
Hasty About-Face Distorts Delta Force
The CDC now urges public indoor masking after a worrisome study on the Delta variant — undermining the vaccine effort. We finally know what drove the…
City Journal
The CDC’s Slender Reed
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reversed its guidance from two months ago and now recommends that fully vaccinated individuals…
Blog
Tobacco Control’s Latest Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
If you want to make something irresistible to teenagers, portray it as a forbidden fruit. That is what has happened in the U.S. with e-cigarettes.
National Review
The True Meaning of ‘Misinformation’
Last week Senators Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) and Ben Ray Luján (D., N.M.) introduced a bill designed to suppress dangerous misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. Like similar…
National Review
A Defeat for Dr. Leviathan
A recent ruling by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in a seemingly obscure case has important implications for limits on the Food and Drug Administration’s…
The New York Post
Doctor Says: Stop the Panic Over the Delta Variant
Delta is now the dominant variant in the US of the virus that causes COVID-19. It is more transmissible than earlier variants and has led to…
The Tribune-Democrat
The Show Must Go On
COVID-19 cases are rising, vaccinations are low, and most of the host country wants to cancel the event. Yet, the Games should go on. The…
City Journal
Stay the Course
One cannot open a newspaper, turn on a TV, or scroll through an online news feed without hearing about Covid-19’s new Delta variant. While the…
Wall Street Journal
Stealing From Drug Makers Is No Way to Vaccinate the World
The innovative pharmaceutical industry confounded critics by delivering highly effective vaccines for a novel disease in less than a year. The vaccines are working against…
The Manila Bulletin
Groups Reveal Report on Bloomberg’s Meddling in PH
The Manila Bulletin cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on Bloomberg’s anti-tobacco meddling: The Nicotine Consumers Union of the Philippines (NCUP) and the…
The New York Post
Stop panicking about ‘Delta’: Vaccines are effective against ALL strains of COVID
Delta is coming. But contrary to alarmists at home and abroad, there is little reason to panic. Scientists first identified the Delta variant of the…
Blog
End Useless Vaccination of the Immune
Six months ago, as the first vaccines were becoming available, I wrote, “Why Are We Vaccinating People Who Have Recovered From COVID-19?” Now that…
Real Clear Policy
Risk, Trust, and COVID
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last month that vaccinated people need not wear masks regularly, Americans’ reaction was polarized. Many seemed…
City Journal
Obamacare Survives a Third (and Likely Final) Challenge
The Supreme Court has now ruled on three legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act, and for opponents of the statute the third time was…
Blog
Exposed: Bloomberg’s Anti-Tobacco Meddling in Developing Countries
Back in February I wrote a piece for Inside Sources titled “Bloomberg’s Philanthro-Colonialism: A Threat to Global Health and Science,” criticizing the behavior of…
Blog
It’s up to Drug Reformers to Stop the War on Nicotine
In recent years, a growing number of Americans have been waking up to the failure of the War on Drugs. Officially initiated by President…
National Review
Woke Inquisitors in the Medical World
Four hundred years ago, Italian astronomer Galileo was persecuted for advancing Copernicus’s theory that the earth and other planets rotate around the sun.
The Wall Street Journal
Vaccine Slowdown Isn’t Cause for Alarm
The United States has done something amazing: developed and authorized three new vaccines and vaccinated half of its adult population, all within 17 months of…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Opposing H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act
View Full Document as PDF Dear Member of Congress: We urge you to reject efforts to pass H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs…
Wall Street Journal
Vaccine Slowdown Isn’t Cause for Alarm
The United States has done something amazing: developed and authorized three new vaccines and vaccinated half of its adult population, all within 17 months of…
City Journal
Following the Politics, Not the Science
It is a disturbing prospect, like something out of a science fiction novel, but it’s appearing increasingly plausible nonetheless: the cause of the worldwide Covid-19…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Rejecting Drug Price Control Legislation
Dear Leader Schumer, Speaker Pelosi, Republican Leader McConnell, andMinority Leader McCarthy,We represent fiscal conservatives, free market advocates, and ordinaryAmericans concerned about confiscatory taxes on the…
Blog
The CDC Finally Does the Obvious
Calling Captain Obvious. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has now stated what has been clear to anyone following the scientific literature for…
National Review
Punishing Success: the Biden Administration, Vaccines, and Intellectual Property
The Biden administration has apparently learned the wrong lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. In a recent statement, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced the “Biden-Harris Administration’s”…
The Center Square
Wyoming Becomes Latest State To Ban Vaccine Passports
The Center Square cites CEI’s study by Joel Zinberg: A recent study by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian-leaning think tank, argued that…
City Journal
Dear Landlord
Among the least logical, most burdensome restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic has been the nationwide ban on residential evictions imposed by the Centers for Disease…
News One
All Cigarettes Matter: Why Ban Just Menthols? Statistics Show 77% Of Black Smokers Prefer Them
News One cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on menthol cigarettes: “The issue of tobacco control is no different, Michelle Minton recently wrote for the…
Letters
CEI and Other Organizations Sign Coalition Letter Condemning Menthol Prohibition Proposal
We, the undersigned organizations, representing millions of taxpayers and consumers across the united States, strongly urge you to reject any proposed ban on menthol flavored…
City Journal
Safety Cannot Be the Only Goal
It’s been a week since the FDA and CDC lifted their pause on the use of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine. The pause…
News Release
FDA Menthol Ban Will Spur Illicit Market, Worsen Racial Disparities in Criminal Justice
The FDA today announced it will be banning menthol-flavored cigarettes and all flavors of cigars, with a proposal due out in the months ahead.
The Washington Post
FDA Promises to Move to Ban Menthol in Cigarettes, Flavored Cigars Within a Year
The Washington Post cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on menthol cigarettes: The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think tank, warned that “banning…
Blog
CDC Says It Is Safe for Vaccinated People to Unmask Outdoors
After much anticipation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has finally relaxed its guidelines on mask wearing—people who have been vaccinated need…
Blog
A Menthol Cigarette Ban Would Perpetuate the Racist War on Drugs
In April the White House announced an apparently historic shift in the U.S. War on Drugs—away from strict prohibition to an approach emphasizing harm…
Blog
Democrats’ Drug Price Control Bill Is a Prescription for Disaster
Last Thursday, House Democrats reintroduced a bill from the last Congress, which they claim will protect Medicare from excessive prescription drug prices. Sadly, it…
C-SPAN
VIDEO: CEI’s Joel Zinberg joins C-SPAN to Discuss Vaccine Passports and Mandates
Senior Fellow Joel Zinberg joined C-SPAN to discuss the debate over COVID-19 vaccine passports and the role of government and the private sector:…
New York Post
The Feds’ Foolish J&J Vax Pause is Already Undermining the War on COVID
A little more than a week ago, federal officials called for a pause in the use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine. The decision came…
News Release
House-passed SAFE Banking Act Would End Federal Threat to Banks Dealing with Legal Cannabis Businesses
The House has passed a bill allowing banks to do business with cannabis companies, the SAFE Banking Act. While Senate action on the bill…
The Washington Examiner
Racially Charged Atmosphere Could Spell End Of Menthol Cigarettes
The Washington Examiner cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on menthol cigarettes: Michelle Minton, a senior fellow at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
National Review
The CDC Shouldn’t Treat Racism as a Public-Health Crisis
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was founded in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center, with a simple goal: prevent the spread of malaria.
Orlando Sentinel
Desantis’ Ban Of Vaccine Passports Could Lead To Showdown With Businesses In Florida
The Orlando Sentinel cites Senior Fellow Joel Zinberg on vaccine passports: “Every business has economic and reputational incentives to ensure that they…
The New York Post
Agencies are Being Cautious with J&J Vaccine — and it Could Cost Lives: Doctor
The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday that they are recommending a pause in the use of Johnson…
The Center Square
Study: Vaccine Passports May Soon be Obsolete
The Center Square cites CEI’s report by Senior Fellow Joel Zinberg on vaccine passports: The Competitive Enterprise Institute released a new …
Study
A Way Forward for Vaccination Passports
View Full Document as PDF Countries around the world have announced plans to implement vaccine passports—electronic or paper credentials that show the person…
City Journal
An Idea Whose Time May Never Come
Countries worldwide have announced plans to implement vaccine passports—electronic or paper credentials that show a person has immunity to Covid-19 through either vaccination or recovery…
Blog
More Good News on the Road to Ending the Pandemic
A new study from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which shows that a single dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna…
Blog
Debate over Vaccination Passports Gathers Steam in Europe and United Kingdom
The concept of a “vaccination passport” was raised in the European Union (EU) early in the pandemic. EU documents show a timetable for discussion of…
National Review
The CDC Extends Its Illegal, Ineffective Eviction Moratorium
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has just announced that it is extending its nationwide eviction moratorium through June. The agency is taking…
City Journal
Open Schools Now
President Biden has continually intoned that we must “follow the science.” He needs to follow his own advice and lead on the issue…
Tobacco Reporter
Mail Ban Forces Vape Shops Out of Business
Tobacco Reporter cites Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on e-cigarettes and a USPS mail ban: Writing in the National Review,…
City Journal
Crossing the Line
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued ever-changing, sometimes contradictory guidance throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. But the disparity between the agency’s treatment of…
National Review
Don’t Ban E-Cigarette Delivery by Mail
Amid the economic devastation caused by COVID-19, one industry has actually thrived: the cigarette business. Some people are smoking to relieve the emotional…
News Release
Covid ‘Relief’ Bill Spends Billions on Items Unrelated to Crisis Recovery and Risks Inflation
The House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on final passage of the ‘American Rescue Plan Act,’ a $1.9 trillion proposal touted as…
National Review
Team Biden’s COVID-Vaccine Deceptions
Can somebody tell President Biden that the election is over? Since he was sworn in six weeks ago, he hasn’t stopped denigrating the Trump administration’s…
The Washington Examiner
A Federal Eviction Ban Infringes on Constitutional Rights
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, federal and state governments have imposed multiple policies that infringe on constitutional rights in the name of protecting public health. Courts…
City Journal
The Third Vaccine
Chalk up another victory for America’s innovative pharmaceutical sector in the battle against Covid-19. An FDA analysis has found that Johnson and Johnson’s…
Wall Street Journal
Biden and Allies Stoked Vaccine Fears
President Biden has proposed an “unprecedented” information campaign to persuade people to get Covid-19 vaccinations. Why, when a pandemic has killed 500,000 Americans, does the…
Blog
Prescription Drug Price Controls are a Trump Legacy Worth Eradicating
During his first month in office, President Biden has seemingly been more interested in eradicating Donald Trump’s legacy than pushing his own proposals, though…
Blog
Biden Should Choose Science over Politics and Embrace Tobacco Harm Reduction
Will the new Biden administration choose science over politics? The commandment to “believe science” has become a rallying cry, one echoed by Joe Biden…
City Journal
False Hero of the Pandemic
Something is rotten in the state of New York. And, as in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, it starts at the top. For the past year, New York governor…
National Review
Atlas, Mugged
Stanford’s campaign against Dr. Scott Atlas for the sins of working for former president Donald Trump and advocating for balancing the costs and benefits of…
National Review
Don’t Tax Prescription Opioids
Co-authored by Sally Satel and Joel Zinberg In 1819, U.S. Supreme Court chief justice John Marshall aptly warned that “the power to tax involves the power…
Inside Sources
Bloomberg’s Philanthro-Colonialism: A Threat to Global Health and Science
Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is in hot water overseas —and potentially at home—with members of the Philippines government accusing Bloomberg-funded charities of…
Inside Sources
Beating COVID-19: Five Simple Steps
Inside President Biden’s expansive and expensive plan to combat COVID-19 are a few hundred billion dollars to increase vaccination. Despite the scientific triumph of developing,…
New York Post
Our Leaders Failed Us on COVID, but Miracle Science Brings Hope for Relief
It seems like a lifetime, but it was only one year ago that the world learned about a cluster of pneumonia cases linked to a…
City Journal
Don’t Wait to Reopen Schools
President Biden has asked governors to reopen schools at the end of his first 100 days in office. Why wait? No Covid-19 mitigation…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Opposed to Most Favored Nation Drug Pricing Final Rule
View Full Document as PDF Introduction On behalf of the undersigned federal and state-based organizations, we write to express our opposition to the…
Blog
The Growing Groupthink Problem in Science and Policy
Government Dietary Guidelines issued jointly by the Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) every five years are meant to provide health…
National Review
Why Is Israel Doing Better Than Everyone Else in COVID Vaccinations?
Eleven years ago, Dan Senor and Saul Singer dubbed Israel the “Start Up Nation” for its disproportionately large number of technology start-ups and NASDAQ stock listings.
Blog
Employers Will Pay Workers to Get a Covid-19 Vaccine
The federal government, through Operation Warp speed, helped develop and bring to market vaccines against the new disease COVID-19 in less than a year, an…
City Journal
AUDIO: Joel Zinberg Joins the 10 Blocks Podcast to Discuss COVID Vaccine Rollout
Senior Fellow Joel Zinberg joins Brian Anderson at City Journal to discuss the slow rollout of coronavirus vaccines, why states like…
City Journal
End Covid Now
More than 22 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been distributed in the United States so far, yet only 6.7…
National Review
Why Are We Vaccinating People Who Have Recovered from COVID-19?
Now that Pfizer and Moderna have received emergency-use authorizations for their COVID-19 vaccines, the tough work of deciding how to allocate the limited supply of doses…
Blog
2020 Was Difficult. It Was Not the Worst Year Ever
It’s been a hard year, and I am hardly alone in being glad it’s almost over. But was 2020 the worst year ever? Over…
The Dan Profit Show
AUDIO: Joel Zinberg Joins The Dan Profit Show
CEI’s Joel Zinberg joins The Dan Profit Show to discuss Biden’s COVID response.
Op-Eds
Cannabis Legalization Clears One Hurdle, but Political Parties Must Compromise to Succeed
Last week, the House passed an historic bill to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level. Despite growing public and political support for such a measure,…
City Journal
A Path to Better Days
It seems like a lifetime, but it was only one year ago that the world learned about a cluster of pneumonia cases linked to a…
Blog
Documentary Exposes Global Nicotine Misinformation Campaign
What if, instead of a deadly “addictive” chemical, nicotine was a revolutionary therapy able to treat several debilitating conditions and, potentially, save billions of lives?…
Wall Street Journal
Trump Isn’t the One Politicizing Science
Politics has infected many issues over the past four years and has now reached the supposedly objective halls of official medicine. In an editorial for…
News Release
New CEI Paper Calls on EPA to Revise Faulty Assessment of Key Medical Supply Sterilant
A new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) finds faulty science by an EPA program led to an unfounded health scare around a…
Study
EPA Should Revise Its Assessment of Medical Supply Sterilant
The COVID-19 crisis is a stark reminder of the importance of maintaining critical medical supplies. Not only must policy makers ensure that the market is…
Blog
COVID-19 Vaccine Shows that the World Needs More Refrigeration and Less Anti-Refrigeration Climate Policy
Refrigeration has had a substantial positive impact on public health in the U.S. and other developed nations where it is in widespread use. Increased market…
News Release
House Vote to End Cannabis Prohibition Complicated by Big Government Provisions
The House today passed legislation that would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. CEI led a coalition supporting that provision of the bill. But CEI…
The Hill
Time to Rein in Government’s Pandemic Overreach — Starting with CDC’s Eviction Ban
Co-authored by Steven D. Anderson When the history of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 is written, it will need a section on the most counterproductive…
Letters
CEI Leads Coalition Letter Supporting MORE Act Provision to De-Schedule Cannabis
Dear Speaker Pelosi, Leader Hoyer, Leader McCarthy, and Whip Scalise: On behalf of the many of Americans whose views and values our organizations represent, we…
Hawaii Public Radio
05:49 Hawaii Public Radio
Hawaii Public Radio cites CEI senior fellow Joel Zinberg on COVID-19 vaccine. Most of the direct actions are going to have to take place at the…
FOX23 News @ 9
FOX23 News @ 9
FOX23 News @9 cites CEI senior fellow Joel Zinberg about COVID-19 vaccine. “The New York surgeon lawyer and economist with the competitive enterprise institute, COVID-19 is serious but…
WFLD-CHI (FOX) — Good Day Chicago at 6A
WFLD-CHI (FOX) — Good Day Chicago at 6A
WFLD-CHI (FOX) — Good Day Chicago at 6A cites CEI senior fellow Joel Zinberg on COVID-19 vaccine and legal challenges. “Zinberg says: “COVID-19 is serious, but…
KRIV-HOU (FOX) — Houston's Morning Show 8am
KRIV-HOU (FOX) — Houston’s Morning Show 8am
KRIV-HOU (FOX) — Houston’s Morning Show 8am cites CEI senior fellow Joel Zinberg on the legal challenges to COVID-19 vaccine. “Legal challenges are expected if states…
Blog
COVID-19 Vaccine Development Is Testament to the Market’s Ability to Develop Life-Saving New Products
The announcement by drug maker Moderna that preliminary data from its still ongoing trial shows its COVID-19 vaccine is 95 percent effective is extremely encouraging.
Inside Sources
Drugs (Except Nicotine) Win on Election Day
Americans sent a clear message on Election Day that it is time to end the war on drugs. Every ballot measure to decriminalize or legalize…
City Journal
Andrew Cuomo, Vaccine-Resistant
New York governor Andrew Cuomo has done it again. Following his earlier pledge to delay distribution of a prospective, FDA-approved Covid-19 vaccine in…
The Wall Street Journal
We Don’t Need Government Mandates for Covid Vaccination
Covid-19 vaccines are almost here. Pfizer announced Monday that its vaccine has proved more than 90% effective in clinical trials. But vaccines are useless unless people…
Blog
President Trump Should Waive Dodd-Frank Provision Harming Vaccine and Ventilator Production and Distribution
The announcement by Pfizer that the vaccine it is developing with German firm BioNTech may be 90 percent effective against COVID-19 is worth celebrating.
USA Today
Invalidate Entire Affordable Care Act
The fate of former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act is, once again, before the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, the justices will hear arguments in…
CNN Politics
Energy Department’s plan for faster dishwashers draws environmental worries
CNN cites CEI on dishwashers and regulatory policy. According to the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute, today’s average dishwasher cycle is more than two…
Legal Brief
Brief of Amicus Curiae – Supreme Court of Oklahoma: District Court Case No. CJ-2017-816
INTEREST OF AMICUS CURIAE The Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”) is a non-profit public policy organization dedicated to advancing the principles of limited government, free enterprise,…
Daily Caller News Foundation
The Affordable Care Act Is Likely Here To Stay Even If Amy Coney Barrett Fills Supreme Court Vacancy, Experts Say
Daily Caller News Foundation cites CEI Senior Fellow Joel Zinberg on Affordable Care Act. Dr. Joel Zinberg, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said…
Study
Science May Be the Easy Part
The COVID-19 pandemic has already infected more than 7 million Americans, claiming over 200,000 lives in the U.S. Since the disease is caused by a…
Blog
How Could We Have Known: Prohibiting E-cigarettes Leads to Smuggling and Smoking
Anyone with a passing knowledge of American history is aware of the failures of prohibition. Both the now-repealed ban on alcohol and the ongoing “war…
